From Diane Arbus and Rembrandt to Paddington and Peter Rabbit, the North Herts Museum is celebrating its fifth anniversary and 50 different exhibitions.

Owned and managed by North Herts Council, the visitor centre officially turned five on Saturday 5 July.

Looking back on our five years, there is a large display panel in the museum café showing all the posters of its 50 exhibitions since it opened on 6 July 2019.

Exhibitions have ranged from prestigious and valuable loan exhibitions such as Rembrandt in Print in 2020, to popular children's exhibitions such as Paddington, Peter Rabbit, The BFG and The Tiger who Came to Tea.

Other exhibitions include those put together by our curators from the museum's own collections, as well as those from the local community, including My Covid Portraits, From Windrush to North Herts and Home is Where the Hert is. 

Its most popular exhibitions have been Paddingtonand The BFG, both with over 9,000 visitors. But had it not been for Covid which meant we had to close the museum, Rembrandt in Print would have been our most popular exhibition.

Cllr Tamsin Thomas, Executive Member for Enterprise & Arts, said: "We have had a great first five years, despite Covid, with 50 amazing exhibitions, honouring the legacy of our founding collections from the former Letchworth and Hitchin museums.

"North Herts Museum and its curatorial team are a fabulous resource for our communities and visitors to the area.

"We have such a rich and diverse history, it's important to preserve and showcase it for generations to come.

"We love being able to showcase external collections as well, providing our residents the chance to see touring exhibitions on their doorstep. And it is fantastic that our in-house team provide a rich programme of talks and events.

"We have welcomed nearly 125,000 people to the museum, including thousands of schoolchildren and many different adult groups – from people with dementia to those taking part in our art workshops like lino printing and collage.

"I am particularly proud of the work that the museum team has done to take our extensive collection out across the district through our schools' programme and other outreach programmes – to care homes and through various groups and societies.

"Our collection is so much more than what you see in the galleries and its fantastic our curators are able to make it accessible for the entire community."